It was a night on television devoted to old, unhealthy attachments. First, President Obama announced that America would be friends-with-benefitsing Afghanistan for another 12 years, but that this was a good thing, and that after 11 years, the relationship was finally progressing towards. . . something. Then, on New Girl, half the characters were reconnecting with old boyfriends or girlfriends they knew in their hearts weren’t good for them. Your recappers were there, hanging on every delusional belief that, this time, things would be better.

Jess sleeps with Paul (Justin Long), and Nick is fully back with his ex, Caroline. Schmidt finds a safe haven for his broken penis in Cece’s grandmother’s nursing home, and Winston gets his ear pierced.

Bruce: The thing about this episode for me was that, while scene by scene I thought it was perfectly funny, there was nothing that really stood out for me—and yet, at the same time, I think this might have been the best overall episode to date.

Well, a couple things stood out. I liked Jess driving “the gang” nuts by listening to “The River” over and over in the aftermath of her break-up with Russell—a nice socio-cultural detail, since it’s my understanding that women of a certain demographic actually do this in real-life, and in Homer Simpson’s famous formulation, “It’s funny because it’s true!” Lest anyone accuse me of condescension or gender stereotyping, I should note that, 1., I love Joni Mitchell and own everything she has ever recorded, even the not-so-good 80s albums on Geffen, plus bootlegs (you didn’t hear it from me, but Google around and see if you can find the demos for The Hissing of Summer Lawns—breathtaking); and 2., wallowing in my own romantic suffering in college I once spent a whole day listening to Bruce Springsteen’s The River album over and over, or, well, at least twice. So anyway, Jess, c’est moi.

But would it have been funnier if she had been listening to Natalie Merchant?

Juli: No, definitely not! “The River” is the saddest song ever and I have personally listened to it seven zillion times (rounded to the nearest hundred million) during bouts of romantic turmoil. My general mood from adolescence onwards can probably be plotted on a graph in which points on the x-axis are determined by whether that song is in my iTunes top 25.

*Bruce:*The other thing that stood out for me was that Winston got to be funny in this episode, wearing progressively more ridiculous earrings after having his ear pierced for reasons I’ve already forgotten—first a diamond stud, then a big hoop, and finally a huge peacock feather, which prompted Schmidt to call him Captain Black Sparrow. This bit could have played as arbitrary schtick, as has too often been the case on New Girl, but Winston’s oblivious smugness at his own happiness—he’s so in love!—made it work. I really like Lamorne Morris, who plays Winston, and I hope this portends good things for him and Winston in Season 2.

Juli: Completely agree. The bit with his silly earrings was such a clever, subtle way to showcase those feelings of invincibility and self-confidence that often arise in the early stages of a really good new relationship. I also loved Nick and Schmidt’s increasingly specific teasing. By the end of the episode, Schmidt tells Winston he looks like he should be standing in line waiting to get into Shaquille O'Neal’s birthday party. I laughed out loud. (Unrelated: This image just flashed through my head of my children or grandchildren asking me who Shaquille O'Neal is, and in which Irish films she played the love interest.)

Bruce: I laughed out loud, too, when Paul, Jess’s ex, addressed Winston as “Washington.” White people live in fear of making racist-appearing faux pas like that, which is probably its own low-level, well-meaning, overly-conscious form of racism. Paul barely knows Winston or any of the other guys; he probably could have just as easily called Nick “Nat,” but, you know . . .

If I may share another embarrassing personal anecdote, but also name drop, I was a writer on Saturday Night Live in the early 90s when Chris Rock and Tim Meadows were in the cast. One late night, as Tim and I passed in a hallway, I absent-mindedly called out, “Hey Chris.” Tim laughed; I was mortified. Naturally, I’m 100 percent not at all racist because I was really confusing him with Chris Farley, but I understand how it seemed. Only when we can absent-mindedly insult people of all races, and not think twice about it, will we truly be free.

Juli: That is a beautiful dream* (*not a callous allusion to any famous, thematically dream-like race-relations speeches). I totally didn’t understand that’s what Paul was doing. It was confusing because right before, in their list of Paul Genslinger puns (“Mercedes Gens,” “It’s the Gens of the world as we know it,” etc.), Winston calls Paul “Genzel Washington.” I didn’t know if Paul calling Winston “Washington” was some sort of reference to this? I like your explanation better though, Bruce.

Bruce: So why did I think this was the best episode yet? It wasn’t the funniest or the most interesting, but it felt balanced to me, like the show’s creative team has finally found the right mix of cartoonishness and more grounded, character-driven comedy. Plus everyone in the cast had something decent to do. I even found Schmidt’s hokey “broken” penis story line funny, though in hindsight maybe I was just in a good mood last night.
Whatever—the episode made me eager for next week’s, the season finale, which I can’t always say about New Girl.

*Juli:*I also loved this episode. It might have been my favorite, too. Jess’s advice to Nick at the end—“If you really love someone, it’s simple”—was really emotionally affecting. We not only learned a lot about how pure and uncomplicated insults can be—we learned a lot about love.